The Roundup for April 26, 2013

? The White House has “varying degrees of confidence that chemical weapons were used in a limited way” by Syrian government forces. They are relying on the Syrian opposition “in gathering facts.” According to an expert, however: “You need a properly conducted investigation . . . [and sample] that is authentic . . . has not been tampered with”, etc. Again, the US Army on testing for sarin in soil.

? Matt Taibbi must read: “[A] series of related corruption stories spilled out of the financial sector [recently], suggesting the world’s largest banks may be fixing the prices of, well, just about everything.” Barclays, UBS, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Scotland–setting rates for a $379 trillion market.

? “US Lets Swiss Banks, Accused of Aiding Tax Fraud, Avoid Prosecution with Fines”. Jail time threat is what changes behavior–not fines, which are just a business cost. “US Justice For Sale” is the message resulting from the current approach.

? OH “sold a state prison to Corrections Corporation of America” in 2011. Results: “rampant abuse and abysmal conditions well below state standards”, the prison is overcrowded by 130%, assaults are up by 40%, etc. Moreover, OH courts are “illegally jailing people because they are too poor to pay their debts”.

? Former SC Gov and US House Rep. wanna-be Mark “Appalachian Trail” Sanford (R-SC), is posting on his website the phone numbers of people who call him in response to the House Majority PAC’s suggestion that they ask Sanford why he spent so much money on luxury travel while governor.

? “Trauma centers and emergency departments across the U.S. have been closing at alarming rates”, while need for them remains high. They’re very expensive to operate. And having people who are un- or under-insured using them inappropriately only adds to the cost, thus increasing the likelihood of closure.

? Alternative to the European Fire Sale–Remunicipalisation! Paris is home of “two of the biggest water multinationals”, but took back control of its water from them, returned control to public hands, and saved $35m euros in the first year alone. Similar goings-on in Tanzania, Malaysia, and Hamilton, Canada.